Volunteer Requirements

To become a Bald Eagle Nest Monitor you will need to spend a small amount of time getting trained to collect good observations that will be comparable to those of other observers.  Good community science depends upon dedicated, trained individuals making careful observations of eagle nests and the behavior of the adult Bald Eagles near the nest. 

Volunteers are requested to make nest observations three times during the nesting season:

  1. January-March to record adult and nest activity

  2. April to count chicks in nest

  3. June-July to count fledged young

Volunteers must also be willing to provide personal contact information so that MBCP can communicate about the project (we do not share your information with anyone). They must also provide accurate coordinate locations of nest site through use of GPS unit, Smart Phone, or online map such as Google. Volunteers must take time to accurately learn how to monitor nests through our provided resources such as Bald Eagle ID and Bald Eagle Biology  as well as our training program. We recommend you also read the Bald Eagles in Maryland fact sheet.

A NOTE ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY OF BALD EAGLE NESTS TO MONITOR:
We cannot guarantee a nest will be available in your area to monitor. We hope birders and Breeding Bird Atlas participants can help us find new nests. Thank you.

To register:

Important!  Great care must be taken to respect private property and to not disturb the nesting eagles, especially during the sensitive egg laying and incubation period.

Questions?

For logistical questions, contact our Volunteer Coordinator at eagles@marylandbirds.org.

For nest reporting and site visit data questions, contact our Data Manager at datamanager@marylandbirds.org.